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Donna Sonkin Shaw, 42, is dedicated to making health and nutrition taste delicious. She believes eating properly leads to overall health inside and out. She is a certified holistic health coach who works privately with clients, and her twist on healthy comfort food delivers the flavor and satisfaction to keep anyone on track. Read on below to hear from Donna, and learn about her style of cooking and thoughts on the competition.

Describe your cooking style or culinary point of view — in one sentence, if you can.Donna: My culinary point of view is healthy comfort food. … I like to say I put the good in the bad and the bad in the good because I feel that people always want real flavor: butter and bacon and chocolate and things like that. There are two of us that come to the table when we come to eat. There’s the part that wants pure pleasure, then the part that knows that what we eat becomes our body. So we’re also eating for our vibrancy and health, so I try to satiate both sides.

Christopher Lynch, 39, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, spent time working with some of the country’s finest restaurateurs and has become a rock star chef in his own right. Christopher carved his own food path with a modern take on the Cajun and Creole cuisine of his adopted hometown of New Orleans. Read on below to hear from Christopher, and learn about his style of cooking and thoughts on the competition.

Describe your cooking style or culinary point of view — in one sentence, if you can.Christopher: My culinary point of view is through my 20-plus years of cooking professionally; I’m taking all my experiences and everything I’ve done and putting it through a New Orleans lens, where I’m cooking currently.

Chris Kyler, 32, received culinary training while in the Navy, where he was known for his charisma and slick sense of humor. After working in other’s restaurants, he opened his own catering company, which specializes in fresh and healthy foods. Read on below to hear from Chris, and learn about his style of cooking and his thoughts on the competition.

What are you most looking forward to in this experience?Chris: I am looking to see how far I can go. … I believe my whole life is not an accident. This is not an accident. This is not a coincidence where I am today. I have a really compelling story of where I come from. … I’ve been rock bottom, and, like, [with] this opportunity I’m, like, almost back at the top from rock bottom. This, right here, I know if it’s for me, I’m going to win. This is my destiny, so I kind of have that head on my shoulders. I’m just going to give it my all. Everything I have within me — my body, mind and soul— I’m just going to leave it on the stage. And when it’s over, if I don’t win, I know this wasn’t for me but something else is. And if I do win, I know this is where I’m supposed to be.

Aryen Moore-Alston, 31, is a self-taught cook who was raised abroad in Italy. She has dabbled in many careers, but food has always been her passion, and some of her fondest childhood memories involve making family meals in the kitchen with her father, who passed away when she was young. After living in Atlanta, Japan and Los Angeles, Aryen settled in Memphis to raise her daughter. Read on below to hear from Aryen, and learn about her style of cooking and her thoughts on the competition.

Describe your cooking style or culinary point of view — in one sentence, if you can.Aryen: The experience. I feel like if you don’t enjoy the journey, it will all go so fast. … I’m really excited. I’m blessed and humbled to be here. And I know that all of this is going into making me shine. I enjoy the process.

Describe your cooking style or culinary point of view in one sentence.Aryen: My culinary point of view is international cuisine in the comfort of your own home.

On America’s Best Cook, Sundays at 9|8c, home cooks battle it out for the chance to win the title of America’s Best Cook, all while representing their specific region of the United States. The cooks are split into teams from the North, South, West and East. Each of these regions has its characteristic foods that make up an integral part of its identity. To celebrate the new competition show, each week during the season, FN Dish has the top 10 reader-recommended eats from one of the regions. This week it’s all about the North.

When you think of the North, meat is one of the first things that come to mind — lots and lots of beef and pork especially. But the North is also known for ethnic cuisines, including eastern European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. Many now long-established restaurants were originally opened by immigrant families and have been passed down through the generations. There you’ll find foods like gyros, goulash, sauerbraten, lasagna and so much more.

FN Dish is counting down until the premiere of America’s Best Cook on Sunday at 9|8c. On the new show, four Food Network chefs representing the four regions of the United States mentor teams of exceptional home cooks in a competition to find America’s best cook. The winner walks away with the title and $50,000 in prize money. But which region will that winner be from? It could be North, South, East or West. The final result will be a testament to the mentor who coached the winner. Ahead of the premiere, FN Dish spoke with the show’s host, Ted Allen, to find out his take on the competition.

As the host of Chopped, Ted Allen gets to see professional chefs enter the heat of the competition, but on America’s Best Cooks, it’s all about the home cooks. Amateurs who have proven they’re the best home cooks in the nation will enter the competition for a chance to be chosen and mentored by one of four Food Network chefs. According to Ted, each team will show a different dynamic and each mentor will have a strategy — some similar, some a bit different. As the host, he has a unique point of view: He gets to see everything that happens on all four teams.

Aside from the old reliables — always-addictive chocolate matzo brittle, from-scratch coconut macaroons and flourless chocolate cake — Passover desserts are usually forgettable. Attempts at kosher-for-Passover versions of cookies and brownies never turn out very well, and those sugared jelly candies always make an appearance but remain untouched on the Seder dessert spread. Fortunately, we rounded up five decadent new desserts that are worth making whether you’re observing Passover or not.

“First, you make a roux” is the start of many Creole and Cajun recipes. Roux is a cooked mixture of fat (butter) and starch (flour) used to thicken many sauces in classic French cooking. A Creole roux is not the classic French butter-flour mixture, but usually a combination of oil, such as peanut, and flour. Unlike a French roux, which can be white to pale golden, Cajun roux are typically the color of peanut butter, at the very least, and progress to a deep, dark brown. This process can take 45 minutes or so of constant stirring. It is dangerous stuff. If any splatters on you, it will be perfectly clear why this fiery, sticky combination of oil and flour is often referred to as “Cajun napalm!” Read more

I made my first trip to New Orleans in the late ’80s and remember one thing vividly: the muffuletta sandwich. Salty, sweet and tangy between two pieces of bread, it was delicious, perfect. Little did I know how important it was to become to me.

I grew up as an Air Force brat, moving all around, all the time, and had just moved from Germany to Florida with my family in 1986. It was a shock, to everyone. Quickly, instinctively, my dad took us on a trip to New Orleans. The relief set in immediately. I reveled in the old buildings, the Stephen King novel I was reading, the endless cultural thingamajigs and the food. I read about the muffuletta in my dad’s guidebook and begged to go the Central Grocery — the sandwich’s creator.

Mac and cheese is a comfort food all-star, beloved by kids and adults alike. The chefs in Food Network Kitchen created a classic, crowd-pleasing stovetop recipe that hits the spot, but they didn’t stop there. They took that basic recipe and baked it up with add-ins like veggies and meats for more complete, satisfying meals. Read more

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Recipe of the Day: Sangria Slushie What happens when your favorite Spanish beverage meets your favorite childhood drink? Sangria 2.0. Thanks to some clever homemade red wine ice cubes and a blender, you truly can feel like a kid again while still (sort of) acting like an adult.

Recipe of the Day: 30-Minute Banana Pudding Layer on the comfort without feeling weighed down with this warm-weather-appropriate treat. Stir sour cream into the cooked pudding to give this classic dessert a rich creaminess that can't be beat.

This cheese sauce is so perfect, you’ll want to put it on everything! It all starts with perfecting our simple technique for making a roux. Sponsored by @mccormickspice.

Recipe of the Day: Giada's Grilled Chicken with Basil Dressing Ensure your grilled chicken is anything but bland with a lemon juice marinade. Giada's simple sauce, made with a cup of fresh basil, will guarantee the meat is moist and flavorful. You might even feel like you've escaped to Italy with all that aromatic basil — at least that's how Giada feels.